Fan-favorite Be a GM mode expands to complete control of an entire franchise with the addition of unique team owners. Control your favorite club as the team president and lead them to Stanley Cup glory by managing the team and the business behind the scenes. Make game changing decisions from player personnel, ticket prices, marketing, arena upgrades, and even relocation – all from under the watchful eye of a demanding owner with challenging goals.

You can now get fired part way through your existing contract if the owners Patience Attribute is low enough, and his Happiness with your performance is low.

Obviously, the more patient the owner, the leeway he will have when it comes to failure or a ‘long term’ vision, but the low happiness of the owner can cause you to get fired regardless of how patient he may otherwise be.

Furthermore, the happiness of your owner at the time of your last contract (expiry or firing) will dictate the quantity and quality of teams that will vie for your services.

This Info actually makes me go from thinking of buying my first Hockey game in a few years to leaning towards not.

I want Freedom and Customization, but instead it's controlling everything. Hopefully Franchise mode is just one mode and there is another version that is GM mode. Or there are lots of options to turn off/on.
I don't want to worry about being fired if I am stuggling at first. I don't want to mess with concession prices. And it sounds like you can't create and replace a team, but can only move in the future if approved.

I want it to be like MyLeague in NBA 2K, where I can replace teams, customize what I want, and do what I want in my Offline League.

This Info actually makes me go from thinking of buying my first Hockey game in a few years to leaning towards not.

I want Freedom and Customization, but instead it's controlling everything. Hopefully Franchise mode is just one mode and there is another version that is GM mode. Or there are lots of options to turn off/on.
I don't want to worry about being fired if I am stuggling at first. I don't want to mess with concession prices. And it sounds like you can't create and replace a team, but can only move in the future if approved.

I want it to be like MyLeague in NBA 2K, where I can replace teams, customize what I want, and do what I want in my Offline League.

I would love that level of customization. Maybe they give you a hard cap of team numbers, but allow you to move teams and alignments as you see fit. Say you move a team from Florida to the Midwest (no offense) and then create two more teams, one to replace the Florida team in the East, and a 2nd to balance things in the West...then you could fill their rosters with AHL and Free Agent players, or do a fantasy draft. It would be awesome.

I was holding out hope for the option to play shorter seasons, guess not. I got through one season last year then tried to do the sim thing some of you guys do and i just totally lost interest 20 games into season 2. I wont waste my time again. I have absolutely no interest in any of this other crap they added.

it's amazing how people have been calling for changes and an overhaul to GM mode and EA delivers. yet people still complain that they don't want this type of immersion and that it is a copy of other games.

this looks awesome and something that we have never really seen from NHL

So many areas of franchise mode that should be improved and they decide that picking chicken wing prices was most important. This just shows how much the NHL devs try to please the casual fans rather than real hockey fans.

it's amazing how people have been calling for changes and an overhaul to GM mode and EA delivers. yet people still complain that they don't want this type of immersion and that it is a copy of other games.

this looks awesome and something that we have never really seen from NHL

To be fair, most people (such as myself) have been calling for deeper improvements to the core of GM mode, which this doesn't exactly provide. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool feature, but there is a lot of other stuff I would have preferred.

Real life things like negotiating contracts mid-season is missing, you'll never see a player take you to free agency. The whole trade deadline is pretty ho-hum, especially when it seems teams just look to be randomly moving players with no real plan in terms of short-term or long-term gains. It's possible this new Franchise mode helps with that, but I would imagine they would mention it if it was a feature.

Similarly, poor playing teams can still attract people all the same, whereas in real life, it's tough. If your team has been losing for a while, and you're constantly in the basement, you generally have to overpay in trades and for free agents. On the other hand, winning teams and teams that are in hockey friendly markets might have an easier time getting guys to take a discount, or sign over a rival.

I don't want to say the new Franchise mode is horrible. It honestly looks pretty fun. But, at the same time there's so much micromanaging there that doesn't really help my actual team. I want to be able to focus more on the players, and the on-ice action. I want to be able to change the practice focus of my team, maybe try and get young rookies to learn a new position. I want to be able to have to actually negotiate with my players, or try and persuade the year's big free agent why he should come to my town. I want to talk to player's agents and get updates on who we're bidding against. Even things like who your coach is, and what type of style they want to play would be huge, along with hiring actual assistant coaches and powerplay specialists. All of that could affect how teams play and build their rosters. There's a lot of in game work that I feel needs to be updated before I want to focus on concessions and restrooms.

I think if the new sliders work well, it will be a big step in the right direction, and the Franchise mode certainly will provide a new way to play Be a GM.

Edit: It's worth noting that a big complaint a lot of us had looks to have been addressed. The new animations and stats they showed in this video look like they will be pretty nice. The hat trick skate by that Eichel had, the stat showing goals since being traded, and what looked to be a memorable moment puck toss by a player, maybe something like a first goal, or 300th goal. Those will be nice to see in game, and bring a nice bit of excitement to the ice.

it's amazing how people have been calling for changes and an overhaul to GM mode and EA delivers. yet people still complain that they don't want this type of immersion and that it is a copy of other games.

this looks awesome and something that we have never really seen from NHL

I don't think these are the changes people have been asking for.

People want a more immersive HOCKEY experience, not a more immersive BUSINESS experience. People want the excitmement of the trade deadline and opening day of free agency. They want more fanfare around the draft and better scouting. More complex contract negotiations with NTCs/NMCs and in-season extensions. I don't recall anyone EVER begging for EA to include a mode where we strategically select which night should be a bobble head giveaway or allowing us to set the prices for valet parking.

It's a hockey game. People want HOCKEY improvements. From the on ice gameplay and presentation to the atmosphere and immersion into important events throughout the season. Nobody cares about the business side and balancing ticket prices, parking prices, jersey prices, beer prices and having it effect whether you get fired from your GM or aren't able to utilize the full salary cap in building your team. Since when do GMs handle these sorts of expenses anyway? This is now a fictional mish-mash of GM responsibilities and duties that belong to someone else entirely, yet it effects whether or not you can remain the GM of the team you want to play with.

This stuff would be fine, assuming you can choose to turn it off if you don't like it, if it was coming on top of, or after, more significant improvements to the actual hockey elements of the game. As the sole improvement to the game, it ends up seeming underwhelming and confusing to some of us.

it's amazing how people have been calling for changes and an overhaul to GM mode and EA delivers. yet people still complain that they don't want this type of immersion and that it is a copy of other games.

this looks awesome and something that we have never really seen from NHL

I must have missed all those people clamoring to set hot dog prices as the GM of a hockey team. GM's have nothing to do with that stuff, this is just a stupid thing they add in to distract from the fact that they didnt actually add anything anyone wanted.

They're fine. I actually prefer an always connected experience.
I'd really prefer an offline way to play, but its not a bother.
I don't really like them, and am more reluctant to buy a game because of it.
I won't buy them. I want my games offline.